In a letter also addressed to the Merrimack Village District Water Works, Attorney Robert Bilott says DES is understating health risks associated with the chemical PFOA, which may be contaminating water in Merrimack. Bilott also questions the accuracy of DES press releases that call contamination level “below the EPA’s provisional health advisory.”

Bilott advises New Hampshire to look to Vermont and New York, both of which have taken more proactive stances in the wake of similar contaminations.

Bilott has spent his career fighting DuPont in multi-million dollar lawsuits over the same contaminant. He is not involved in a possible class action lawsuit in Merrimack.

The contaminant in question, known as PFOA, belongs to the same perfluorochemical family those found in water on the Pease Air Force Base in 2014.

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The governors of New Hampshire, New York and Vermont are urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to review and issue new safe drinking water guidelines regarding an emerging contaminant that's shown up in water systems and in private wells.

They wrote to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Thursday asking for a review of the best available science regarding PFOA. It's part of a family of chemicals used to make nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpeting.

People exposed to contaminants in well water on the former Pease Air Force Base say the state’s information about health risks has been insufficient. While the state says no conclusions can be made about the science, scientists say more is known that the state is letting on.

A community advisory board concerned about water contamination on Pease Tradeport heard from two epidemiologists Tuesday night in Portsmouth.

Courtney Carignan studies environmental contaminants at Harvard’s School of Public Health. She says even though the contaminant found in a well at Pease is in a sort of regulatory limbo with the EPA, the contaminant's health effects are known.

The U.S. Air Force has teamed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor residents exposed to contaminated water from the now-closed Pease base.

The Portsmouth Herald reports that Air Force Secretary Deborah James said yesterday that officials are developing a plan for health monitoring near the Portsmouth base, with the CDC taking the lead.

An Air Force report submitted in September says 454 civilians and 6,128 service members were potentially exposed to poisonous chemicals found in water from the Haven well at Pease International Tradeport in 2014.